Method of making wheel hubs



1933- E. RIEMENSCHNEIDER El AL 1,928,911

METHOD OF MAKING WHEEL HUBS Filed Dec. 51, 1930 4 2 II! V/ I -1 6 FILiZ,

Patented Oct. 3, 1933' PATENT; OFFICE 1,928,911 METHOD OF MAKING WHEEL HUBS Ernest .Riemenschneider and Kuiper, Cleveland, Ohio,

Gerhard C. B. assignors to The Midland Steel Products Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application December 31, 1930 Serial No.

2 Claims. (01. 29159.3) I

5 methods have been employed.

One method contemplates blanking the hub from sheet material and stamping the blank and forming it into a hub by bringing the ends together and welding them along a longitudinal seam.

Another method contemplates making the hub in two or'more pieces and welding or otherwise securing the pieces together.

' Again a certain degree of success has been obtained by deep drawing and upsetting operations performed on flat blanks.

As far as we are aware a manufacturers use cast hubs.

In all of these methods, the proportion of waste material larger number of of labor and equipment required.

Our method is adapted for economic and rapid production of hubs of uniform quality and dimenpractising the same.

Further our method eliminates or greatly reduces the amount of machining required.

These and other advantages will become more apparent fromthe following specification in which reference is made to the drawing by the use of numerals the same numerals designating the same parts in the various views.

.0 In the drawing:-

Figure l is an elevation of a length of tubing comprising the blank from which the hub is formed.

Figures 2, 3 and 4 are longitudinal sectional 5 views illustrating the successive steps in forming a hub from the blank including the formation of the flange and integral bearing retaining rings.

Figure 5 is an elevation of a hub made in acl cordance with the steps of the method of our invention, part thereof being shown in section for clearness in illustration.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, a length of tubing of substantially uniform diameter designated 1 of proper dimension for the particular hub is placed in a suitable forming means to bow outwardly the walls of a predetermined length of the illustrated in Figure 2.

For the purposes of illustration we have shown 0 the step performed by means of dies 3 which subject the tubing to axial pressure. The annulus 2 is spaced from the ends a predetermined distance depending upon the particular length of v annulus 2 bend abruptly along thmiddle circumference. As axial pressure continues the annulus 2 is collapsed axially and the walls brought together forming a flange 7 as better illustrated in Figure 3.

The dies may be provided with annular inset shoulders 6 which impart a finished and more accurate shape to the flange. In this manner a flanged hub having extensions on either side of the flange is formed. The extensions form the bearing ring retainers. In most cases, for go instance, in the case of automobile wheel hubs,

a large diameter bearing ring retainer having an annular finished inner surface is provided on flange outwardly to asmaller diameter bearing ring retainer. In such cases, the hub is reduced at one end, for example, the end 5 may be reduced to the required diameter for the particular hub being used by suitable means such as a ring die or by swaging to taper it to smaller diameter from the flange outwardly. It then may be engaged by suitable dies 8 as illustrated in Fig. 4, which form a shoulder 9, and bring the end portion 5 to the final form. Mandrels may be provided to impart an accurate inner wall finish in the ends 4 and 5, and to insure proper axial alignment thereof. As shown in Fig. l, the mandrei is inserted through one of the dies 8 and through one end of the tubing up to a point just beyond the flange 7, after which the complementary die 8 is moved axially with respect to its the annular shoulder 9. This action also causes a reduction and upsetting of the end 5 of the tubing to increase its wall thickness.

In this manner a flange very much larger than the diameter of the stock may be formed. This step is desirable and often necessary in case the no provided difference between the particular flange and end of the hub is great. In such case a small tube would be difficult to form into an annulus 2 of great enough diameter for forming a flange of so much greater diameter than the tube. This reduction further provides additional material in the end of the hub. The hub thus formed may be provided with annular shoulders inside of the bearing ring retainers 4 and 5. The shoulders may be formed by machining the surfaces and 11 of the retainers 4 and 5 and by indenting an annular portion of the walls of the bearing ring retainers 4 and 5.

However, we prefer to form a number of indentations 12 and 13 about the bearing ring retainers 4 and 5, as illustrated in Fig. 5, and then to machine the inner surfaces as described. The indentations are preferably formed before the machining operation so that the faces thereof normal to the surfaces 12 and 13 are machined to a true fit and will space the bearing rings in proper axial position in the hub. To facilitate forming and to provide a better finish on the inner walls of the bearing ring retainers and to maintain them in accurate axial alignment the dies 8 may be provided with suitable mandrels, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

While we have described our method of forming flanged hubs by subjecting the tubing to endwise pressure, obviously the annulus may be formed in some other manner. For instance, a member may be inserted into the heated tube and turned about the inner walls to forcethem outwardly, and the annulus thus formed col-- lapsed by other means than the dies illustrated.

It is apparent that in the practise of our method,

no waste whatever results but the entire stock of tubing is utilized in the finished hub. The length of blank may easily be chosen so that, after reducing the diameter of the portion 5, it will be the required length. The flange may be with holes properly spaced and threaded to receive bolts for fastening the wheel or other equipment thereto.

To carry out our method effectively we prefer to use tubing welded as described in our copending application Ser. No. 473,484, filed August 6, 1930, as tubing made by this method is welded for the full depth and will not split or separate along the weld under axial pressure.

However, by specifying tubing, we do not intend to limit ourselves thereto. For instance, we may take straight stock strip and form it into an open ended cylinder by bending it normal to its width and welding the ends together. Such a blank likewise would utilize all of the stock material.

We have described the steps of the process of our invention as applied to the forming of hubs for automobiles. It should be noted however, that this description is for the purposes of illustration only. We do not intend to limit our invention thereto nor do we intend to limit our invention merely to hubs but intend to include all reasonable equivalents thereof. In the claims the word "tubing is meant to include not only sections or lengths of tubing, but intended to include any blank comprising an open ended cylinder, one of the important features being that in such a blank none of the stock is wasted.

We claim:

1. The method of making hubs including subjecting a tube of substantially uniform diameter throughout to axial compression to form an outwardly bowed annulus, collapsing said annulus by further axial compression to form a flange of double thickness while maintaining the diameter of the tube substantially uniform throughout, extending a mandrel into one end of the tube to a point just beyond the flange, and then subj ecting the tube to axial compression of dies to form a portion of the tube adjacent the flange over the end of the mandrel to produce an annular shoulder and to reduce the diameter of one end of the tube.

2. The method of making hubs including heating an intermediate portion of a tube of substantially uniform diameter throughout, confining the end of the tube and subjecting the same to axial compression to form an outwardly bowed annulus, collapsing said annulus by further axial compression to form a flange of double thickness while maintaining the diameter of the tube substantial- ,ly uniform throughout, extending a mandrel into one end of the tube to a point just beyond the flange, and then subjecting the tube to axial compression of dies to form a portion of the tube adjacent the flange over the end of the mandrel to produce an annular shoulder and to reduce the diameter of one end of the tube while increasing its wall thickness.

ERNEST RIEMENSCHNEIDER. G. C. R. KUIIPER. 

